Well, this will come as no surprise to OSNews readers, but as outlined in a recent BBC documentary, UK neuroscientists have studied brain scans of hard-core Apple fans and have found that their mental reactions to Apple imagery are quite similar to scans of religious devotees' brains when shown images of their iconography. The DigitalTrends article summarizing the finding singles out Apple users, but I think we all know that, RDF aside, this is not an Apple-only phenomenon.

The article seems to imply that the result of the study can apply to any fan of any OS.
The study was not about an OS, it was about a company that literally invented the evangelism as marketing concept. It does only apply to Apple. The fans are not after the OS, they are after the brand. They are not a handful of geeks either. They are a mass. No other brand or system can enjoy the kind of phenomenon that made the iPhone and the iPad so popular. Every media talked about it for free, hordes of fanboys were defending the lack of feature as a feature, etc. This is the result of Apple's unique marketing technique.

Then the article tries to picture the fans as some kind of enlighten people with an analogy with people who cross rivers. This is totally misguided. This is like comparing political belief or religion that is based on philosophical concepts with a sect that is based on giving away your money to the leader. What the study is showing is that Apple has managed to use sectarian techniques as a marketing technique. By trying to depict that as a good thing, the article looks like an article written by a fan.